Judith Linhares, a native of California, grew up in the high desert and beach cities of the southern part of the state and traveled north to Oakland to attend California College of Arts & Crafts for her BFA (1964) and MFA (1970). She lived and worked in The Bay Area until her move to New York City in 1980. She currently lives and maintains her studio practice in Brooklyn, NY.

Linhares’ subjects are often figures and animals set in a dream-like narrative. Her fables and allegories, depicted in a raw and immediate style, feature dark outlined figures against luminous backgrounds. With broad, bright brushstrokes she creates personal mythologies from a fascinating collection of distorted barnyard animals, flowers and haunting figures. Linhares had her first solo show, Love Letters from San Jose, in 1971 and the subject of love and domestic life have continued to be sources of inspiration and reflection throughout her career. The artist has had over forty solo shows since then and has been included in many important group exhibitions including Marcia Tucker’s seminal show, Bad Painting, in 1978 and the Venice Biennale in 1984. She is the recipient of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation Artist Award (2017), The Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2013), John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1997), and three NEA awards (’79, ’87, ’93). Her work is represented in distinguished collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Oakland Museum, among others.